Detergent Pods Still Pose Major Risk to Kids

UPDATE 9/15/2015: Over the past year through ASTM International, laundry detergent manufacturers and consumer advocates worked together to develop a voluntary safety standard for liquid detergent laundry packets. Officially approved today, the standard sets forth requirements in an effort to help reduce accidental exposures, especially to children. It calls for the following:

1. Adding an unpleasant tasting agent to the capsule's outer film that triggers a repulsive reaction within 6 seconds.

Most Popular

2. The tub or bag containing the packets should not be transparent or translucent

3. Several options for making the packets more difficult for children to access. For instance, this could mean requiring more force to open them.

4. Adding warning statements and safety alert symbols on labels that caution the dangers of ingestion and contact with skin or eyes.

5. A minimum burst strength for the individual packets, making it harder for children to bite through them or squeeze them.

At the Good Housekeeping Institute, we are actively participating in ASTM task groups established to continue to explore other areas the standard should address. Other groups have also been established to collect data on incidents in order to assess the standard's effectiveness. We believe these new requirements will help consumers use and store these products safely.

As always, we urge parents to keep all cleaning products out of reach of children. Prevent future accidental exposures by storing containers in an area where your child cannot access them. Even under your supervision, don't allow children to handle detergent packets.

The detergent in these packs is actually more concentrated than regular liquid detergent, which might explain the increased harm they can cause. And because of the small, colorful packaging, children often mistake them for candy, and they can dissolve quickly in their mouths. Detergent brands are combating these health threats by making packages opaque and more difficult to open, and printing warnings on the label. Still, we recommend keeping the packs out of reach of small kids at all times.

Procter & Gamble

Original post from 8/16/2013: If you're a fan of the single-dose laundry detergent packets, hopefully you're keeping them out of sight and reach of any children that are living in or may be visiting your home. Unfortunately, because these packs are so super-convenient to use it's easy to forget that in the wrong hands, they can be dangerous. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, over 5,000 children ages five and younger were exposed to single-dose laundry detergent packs in the first seven months of 2013, despite all the media attention to the issue and the warnings and packaging improvements that have been implemented.

Tragically, I recently learned of a young Florida boy who died from ingesting one. Children are reaching for these soft, clear or brightly colored pouches of liquid detergent and biting into them like candy. When swallowed, the concentrated detergents cause vomiting, wheezing and serious breathing problems, and in some cases, even adults have been injured when packets split open or dissolved prematurely and detergent splashed or got rubbed into their eyes.

The good news is that steps are being taken by manufacturers and the entire industry to address these safety issues. Procter & Gamble has once again redesigned the container of its Tide Pods, changing it from clear to opaque plastic (above) so it looks less like a candy jar and is less enticing to children and is offering a free re-sealable, over-the-lid sticker. Other brands, like All, Wisk, and Purex, are doing the same.

To be sure your laundry room is as safe as it can be, follow these important steps:

1. Always store laundry products safely.

2. Pay close attention during use and follow all label directions.

3. Dispose of products properly.

4. Know what to do in the event of an emergency and keep the Poison Control Center phone number (1-800-222-1222) handy at all times